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This chapter proposes a neural framework for how some of the factors affecting decision-making may be implemented in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (vmPFC). Information conveying delay in the future (or distance in the past) depends on the integrity of more anterior vmPFC cortices (i.e., frontal pole) in order for a delayed outcome to exert an influence on behavior. If those anterior regions (frontal pole) are damaged, decision-making shifts towards shorter time horizons (i.e., the decision-making process becomes more influenced by more immediate, or more recent, outcomes). As the damage extends to the more posterior vmPFC regions, the shortening of this time horizon (or high recency) becomes more severe. Humans have developed greater capacity to decide according to outcomes that are far more distant in the future (or past). This capacity places even normal individuals at a disadvantage because nearer events possess stronger somatic states, so that they tend to bias decisions in their favor. However, damage to the vmPFC tends to curb this capacity to a much greater extent.

This chapter considers the functional contributions of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC), the adjacent lateral orbital frontal cortex (OFC), and the frontal polar cortex (FPC) to reinforcement learning and value-based choice. It presents the results of the experiments investigating VMPFC, OFC, and FPC function in humans and macaque monkeys.

This chapter presents recent findings from single neuron electrophysiology and functional neuroimaging with respect to the role of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC), the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC), and the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) in decision making. These findings are based on decision-making frameworks that highlight several cognitive processes such as the representation of internal states, the determination of outcome value, the adaptive coding of outcome value, the determination of action costs, linking value to action, and the integration or specialization of decision variable representations.

Humans are the world champions of prosociality: we help, share resources with, and cooperate with others at a breathtaking rate. At one time, our propensity for prosocial acts confused both evolutionary theorists and economists, whose models firmly suggested that people should exclusively seek out self-oriented gains. The “problem” of prosociality has since been resolved through theoretical advances that suggest two complementary views on why people might behave prosocially. First, individuals may use prosocial acts strategically, as a means for achieving more personal goals, such as gaining a positive reputation or being paid back in the future for their kindness. Second, individuals may value prosocial outcomes as ends in and of themselves, and their prosocial acts may reflect these deep-seated preferences. Here, we describe a program of neuroimaging research that examines this second, “intrinsic” motive for prosociality and supports the broad hypothesis that people experience prosocial outcomes as a form of reward, akin to food or sex. We close by discussing novel predictions and implications generated by a reward-seeking model of prosociality.

The scientific study of aesthetic experience through the examination of the neural correlates of sensory and motor responses works of art and to other visual images has thrived during the last decade. The neural substrate of embodied responses to works of art, and to visual images more generally, has been the object of much attention. This research, however, has tended to sidestep the question of aesthetic preference and rating, and the neural correlates of contextual influences on such ratings. Responses in the domain of perception–action coupling have provided useful and important evidence for the role of somatic and emotional responses in viewers’ engagement with works of art. Nevertheless, the degree to which they form the basis of evaluation, ranking, and even judgment remains unclear. In this chapter we concentrate on the respective roles of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex (VMPFC) and the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) during aesthetic evaluation, particularly the aesthetic evaluation of visual works of art. Activity in these areas is modulated by external contextual pressures on viewing. The roles of ACC, hippocampal and striatal connections in the process of rating and evaluating works of visual art, and the relationship between expert and non-expert responses, are also discussed.

This chapter argues that understanding the frame of reference in which neural activity changes is fundamental to understanding the function of that activity. It discusses how social influences modify action selection and cognitive control. It then argues that socially derived rewards and decision values activate portions of the ventral striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex. The chapter also discusses studies that use the reinforcement learning (RL) model in tracking the behavior of a partner in a socially interactive setting.

There is a relative paucity of theoretical models that address the mechanisms that might underlie the effects of mindfulness practice. We provide a hypothesis that mindfulness meditation practice might work in part by enhancing the ability to extinguish conditioned emotional responses. Recently, studies have begun to examine meditation-induced structural and functional changes in the brain. These studies have identified several brain areas to show functional and structural changes, including the ventromedial prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and amygdala. Interestingly, it is known that these brain regions are part of a brain circuit that is critical for the extinction of conditioned fear responses, and for the retention of fear extinction memory. This overlap suggests that mindfulness meditation could enhance the practitioner’s capacity to extinguish conditioned fear and retain the memory for fear extinction. Shedding light on the mechanisms underlying mindfulness practice will help our understanding of how a mental practice could help to enhance psychological well-being. Furthermore, understanding the underlying neural correlates of the positive benefits resulting from mindfulness practice will have important clinical implications.

This chapter on cognitive processes and behaviours introduces and describes core concepts of psychology, consumer research and behavioural economics that are relevant to consumer neuroscience. The overall emphasis of the chapter is on behavioural concepts and models, where a brief overview of functional neuroanatomy is provided when available and meaningful. Specifically, the following, partly overlapping models and concepts are discussed and put into the context of consumer neuroscience: memory and learning, arousal, attention and awareness, motivation, reward, decision-making, and cognitive processes, the somatic-marker hypothesis, theory of mind and reward-based learning. Despite some have these concepts have been known to psychologist for over a century, however, the presentation of topics generally emphasizes recent works and insights, where an attempt is being made to show how the different concepts interrelate.

In the early twentieth century, neoclassical economic theorists began to explore mathematical models of maximization. The theories of human behavior that they produced explored how optimal human agents, who were subject to no internal computational resource constraints of any kind, should make choices. During the second half of the twentieth century, empirical work laid bare the limitations of this approach. Human decision makers were often observed to fail to achieve maximization in domains ranging from health to happiness to wealth. Psychologists responded to these failures by largely abandoning holistic theory in favor of large-scale multi-parameter models that retained many of the key features of the earlier models. Over the last two decades, scholars combining neurobiology, psychology, economics, and evolutionary approaches have begun to examine alternative theoretical approaches. Their data suggest explanations for some of the failures of neoclassical approaches and revealed new theoretical avenues for exploration. While neurobiologists have largely validated the economic and psychological assumption that decision makers compute and represent a single-decision variable for every option considered during choice, their data also make clear that the human brain faces severe computational resource constraints which force it to rely on very specific modular approaches to the processes of valuation and choice.